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Heyy! I’m stopping by for an early post tonight – I’ve got a jazz concert to go to :)

Thank you so much for all the kind comments regarding my latest vlog (click to watch if you haven’t yet!). I got a kick out of many of you saying you’d never have the guts to film one. It’s all about embarrassing yourself in as many formats as possible on the internet :P

Also interesting to hear your thoughts on participating in races. As I said, I’m debating whether or not I want to compete in any this year. I love the idea of them, and who doesn’t love crossing that finish line? But I’m not a person who reacts to stress well, and I don’t find the pressure and anxiety that comes with races to be productive for me. Not to mention, I’m not competitive at all!

I think racing is great for a lot of people, because it gives them a goal to work towards. A lot of people need that goal to get them out the door everyday. It was really helpful for me when I first started getting active, but I don’t feel like I need to make such a commitment to get me to the gym everyday. If anything, I’m more dead set on doing a pull-up! Gah! It feels like I’ll never get there!

Anyways, I do have a half-marathon in Toronto picked out for September. But this summer is shaping up to be crazy, so I am not signing up for it until I know for sure I can do it. No pressure! I am a stress-free zone! (or, that’s what I keep telling myself :P ).

Got up this morning and ran a little over 5 miles on the treadmill doing my favourite speed intervals. It was rough! I got really sweaty and my face felt like it was on fire.

I’ve also cut down to one coffee a day, instead of the usual two. After going through caffeine withdrawals on Monday, I decided a whole french press might be a little excessive for me. So I’ve just been chugging one glass of iced coffee before I go to the gym, and then skipping the second one I usually have once I get to work. I have no plans to give it up entirely, but cutting back where possible :)

Turtle pretzels.I ate three. My officemate and I have successfully demolished these in two days. Can I still claim “healthy fat” on these? :P

I arrived home from work today to a yummy package!

Hahahaha. I love Deb. She is smart, hilarious, and also the maker of verrrry delicious homemade nut butters.

It’s my consolation prize for participating in her “The Good, The Bad and The Funny Contest.” We had to submit a photo representing each. She sent me a copy of my “bad” photo, holding a pack of cigarettes! I smoked for 6 years, something I wrote about here.

As for the goodies – xanthan powder, cocoa almond butter and the OMG OMG OMG (hazelnuts, cocoa, stevia, cardamom). I taste tested each right away. OMG is right!!!

I could have eaten the bags of nut butter for dinner, but whipped up this beast of a salad instead.

spinach

red onion

bell pepper

tomato

sugar snap peas

mushrooms

pickled beets

black olives

pickles

feta cheese

rotisserie chicken

hummus

This salad gets an “OMG” too. Yummmm!

That’s all from me! I’ve got to go change for the concert. I spilled beet juice on my dress :\

Question of the Day: What food has you going “OMG” lately? I also pick that wafflewich combo shown above!

Thought I’d change things up a little and post a vlog tonight! Okay, I had a super boring day, and babbling for a few minutes was easier ;)

I tried really hard not to say “aboot,” although I think you’re all still crazy. It’s totally “abowt.” But I do say “eh” and call hats “toques.”

The video skips a little bit because my computer was hurtin’ trying to film this. So don’t worry, it’s not yours. Oh, and You Tube is a cruel bitch. I swear there is someone over there purposely picking the worst screen shots :P

I believe my sentence finished “let you get back to your day” :) Now you see what I mean when I say I’m awkward in real life? People who know me – do I really look up that often during conversations? I look like a crazy person.

Anyways!

Question of the Day: How do you feel about races? Yay? Nay? Best time of your life or self-induced torture?

I love you guys. Commenters, lurkers, friends and family. The support I get from everyone is unreal. In the end, my struggles are trivial, in that I am so lucky to have so many people behind me. THANK YOU.

Okay, lets not ramble tonight. Let’s get down to business.

I stayed up too late watching Teen Mom last night. I love that show. Thankfully, today was my rest day, so I had lots of time this morning to stumble around in my pre-coffee daze. This also included a breakfast of epic proportions.

I tried something a little different today and toasted the bread first, then dredged it in egg whites and pumpkin pie spice. I personally did not care for it. It made it crunchy, and I prefer a dense and egg-y french toast.

Work was pretty slow today. One of those days spent waiting for people to return my e-mails and phone calls. After work though, I went to a lecture featuring Nik Nanos. Canadian political junkies may know him as the leading pollster in the country. Some excellent political discussion followed :)

Came home to my supa-spicy leftovers from yesterday. I put the meatless ground round/black bean combo on top of some cooked veggies today.

This time with steamed green beans, red potatoes and brussel sprouts. Topped with salsa, of course ;)

This was so. much. food. I couldn’t finish it all. Cooked veggies are way more filling than raw ones. I also feel like I’m about 8 months along with a black bean fibre baby.

Making Dates

No, not those kinds of dates… Not yet – sheesh! :P

I found out today that my personal training course has officially been moved to March, followed by my exam April 16. Eeee!! Excitement!! I was originally supposed to do a three-day course in Moncton (on top of my online and textbook course-work). But the instructor fell ill and had to cancel. So now I’ll be travelling to Saint John for two weekends in March instead. Seeing as my current contract at the university is up April 30, this timeline works perfectly for me! Hopefully I’ll be certified and good to go by the time I finish my contract. It also gives me extra time to study. Cause lets face it, my current schedule is a lot more strenuous than my Starbucks one was ;)

I’m also looking into RPM spin class training. I still have to hear back on this one, I’m not entirely sure when and where they’re offering it yet. I like the idea of teaching spin class, I know I could challenge people and have a good time. But I’m also a very shy person who tends to clam up in front of big crowds. So I think I’ll just do the training and take it from there. If anything, it will be fun and look fab on my resume :)

And fiiiiinally – I’m starting to make decisions about this coming race season! You may recall that I set three race goals in my Goals For the New Year. In 2010 I want to compete in a half marathon, compete in a duathlon and bike a metric century.

It’s kinda hard to plan out all my races, because I don’t know where I’ll be living after this spring yet. But here’s the tentative schedule:

Sunday, April 11th – Fredericton Lincoln 5k

Sunday May 9th – Fredericton Marathon – 10k

Sunday June 6th – Moncton Subaru Duathlon – 5k run, 20k bike, 2k run

You may also recall that I originally planned on doing my half marathon in May as part of the Fredericton Marathon. But I’ve decided to do the 10k portion of the race instead, and put my half marathon off until late summer/early fall. This is mostly because I don’t want to spend the winter months training on a treadmill or in the cold when I could be spending these months weight training. It will also be a lot more fun to train for a half marathon in nice weather :)

Of course, who knows when or where this half marathon will be – I haven’t a clue where I’ll end up yet! As for the metric century, I’m having a tough time finding road bike races in this area. But this isn’t something I necessarily want to do as a race, I really just want to get the mileage under my wheels :)

So there ya go, consider yourself updated! ;)

Question of the Day: Do you plan on doing any races in the upcoming season? I got a lot of people say they want to do marathons and triathlons in my last post. Even if you’re not ready for a big one, a few smaller races are still a good start!

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Welcome!

My name is Susan, I'm a 20-something living in Atlantic Canada and this is my blog about... me. I used to blog about food and fitness, but that all changed in June 2011 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After six months of chemotherapy, I was declared cancer-free in January 2012. I now write about anything and everything as I stumble through my post-cancer world. I'm a trained journalist currently working as a writer/researcher. I also have a background in personal fitness training and nutrition. Welcome to my piece of the internet!
See my About page or Top Posts page for more.

Contact

E-mail me at: thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com

Due to my current illness, please be patient for responses to e-mails and comments. If anything is urgent, please let me know!